Analysis of Microbiota Persistence in Quebec’s Terroir Cheese Using a Metabarcoding Approach

Environmental short amplicon sequencing, or metabarcoding, is commonly used to characterize the bacterial and fungal microbiota of cheese. Comparisons between different metabarcoding studies are complicated by the use of different gene markers. Here, we systematically compare different metabarcoding molecular targets using V3–V4 and V6–V8 regions of the bacterial 16S rDNA and fungal ITS1 and ITS2 regions. Taxonomic profiles varied depending on the molecular markers used. Based on data quality and detection capacity of the markers toward microorganisms usually associated with the dairy environment, the ribosomal regions V3–V4 and ITS2 were selected and further used to evaluate variability in the microbial ecosystem of terroir cheeses from the province of Quebec in Canada. Both fungal and bacterial ecosystem profiles were described for 32 different ready-to-eat bloomy-, washed- and natural-rind specialty cheese varieties. Among them, 15 were studied over two different production years. Using the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index as an indicator of microbial shifts, we found that most variations could be explained by either a voluntary change in starter or ripening culture composition, or by changes in the cheesemaking technology. Overall, our results suggest the persistence of the microbiota between the two years studied—these data aid understanding of cheese microbiota composition and persistence during cheese ripening.